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During the holiday season, the Chattahoochee Humane Society has planted Giving Trees at businesses in the community to encourage community members to donate for spay/neuter surgeries, flea and tick medicine, dog and cat food and other supplies.

There is a tree at Pokey’s in West Point and another at Gear Gaming in Opelika. 

“People can select an ornament and buy the gift and drop it off or order it online,” said CHS Executive Director Lisa Cofield. “It’s basically for donations.”

Community members can even sponsor a pet adoption to help pay for someone else to bring home.

The humane society is still greatly in need of supplies and funds to get medical treatment and  spay/neuter surgeries. Cofield said CHS also has donation bins set up at the Givorns in West Point and Valley.

The community can also make donations through the humane society’s Amazon wishlist located on their Facebook webpage.

One volunteer, Amber Henderson, started a Gofundme account for a dog named Carlton, who needs heartworm medicine. Carlton was recently adopted from the humane society, but his owners cannot afford the treatment. The fundraiser, which began at the end of November, has raised $130 so far. 

“It is expensive to get them treated for heartworm,” Cofield said. “So they were just trying to help her raise the funds for that.”

The November stats show that CHS had 33 intakes and 27 outcomes with a live release rate of 79%. In November, there were 27 stray intakes and nine owner surrenders. Throughout the month, there were nine pet adoptions, 17 pets transferred to rescue missions and two pets redeemed by their owners. 

“That’s how many animals were here,” Cofield said. “At the end of the year, everybody’s trying to get rid of their animals. Our intake numbers were up. Our adoptions were low.”

CHS staff try to post the humane society’s stats every month to maintain transparency with the public on where they stand. 

“People can see it for themselves,” Cofield said. “This is how many animals we got. This is a space we have. These are the decisions we had to make.”

Unfortunately, the humane society has limited space, and they have seen increases in owner surrenders and stray intakes. Without more adoptions, the space fills up too quickly.

“Get those animals spayed and neutered. That’s the only thing that’s ever going to change anything about this place — for the community to spay and neuter their animals,” Cofield said.

CHS offers a low cost spay/neuter program in which Chambers County residents who make less than 30,000 salary can get their pets spayed and neutered for $50 through the humane society. 

Cofield also hopes to dispel spay/neuter myths as well. She said that animals don’t need to go through a first heat cycle. 

“Once they’re six months or older, they need to get spayed or neutered,” Cofield said.